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mformato's reviews
190 reviews
If You Go Down to the Woods by Seth C. Adams
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
The one thing this story did well was understanding the voice of a 13 year old boy as a protagonist, awfully annoying. All the characters in this book were cut and paste tropes. The antagonists weren't that compelling (not to mention the amount of times they hurt the dog) but neither were the protagonists of the story. The final act was full of such dues ex machina madness that made you roll your eyes. The fact that only one of the crew lost their lives (two if you consider the implications that one character was raped and thus lost her life in another way) was disappointing with the types of people the villains were. You had a friggin mobster and his goon taken down by a couple of meddling kids and the mysterious man of death die by the dog after he had been shot and whatever else happened to him in the final scene (I honestly just finished it and I don't remember what made him disappear for a short period of time before dramatically reappearing).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Police brutality
Minor: Rape
Save Yourself by Kelly Braffet
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This story. This story. How the hell do you describe it? We follow too many troubled souls as their pain interconnects. There is only one slightly likeable character and not much plot. But damn, this book was captivating. It was raw. It was messed up. By the middle of the book I was hoping nobody got a happy ending because it just wouldn't feel right. None of the characters deserved anything good. The ending delivered on that, albeit in a cheap way, but it still felt right. I know this isn't a positive sounding review but this story was far from positive and it deserves such. I actually did enjoy it but I don't know who I would recommend it to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Gore, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Despite the bleak and war-filled background, this was such a sweet and fuzzy feel-good type of book. The casualties were predictable and even though all the characters had their personalities I didn't feel saddened by their loss. This story was written with such care for the time and the folks who suffered through these horrid tragedies. I would recommend this book to those who love the beauty of books and enjoy the feeling of a welcoming community.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and War
The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
A sweet and whimsical nonstory about one of the more interesting side characters from the King Killer Chronicles. It is almost a tragedy in a way with how it portrays Auri's lonely life but it is also beautiful in how much she adores it. To her, everything has a story. Everything has a name. And everything has its place. Overall it was a nice little read but I can understand why some folks may be off-put by it.
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I'm not sure what I can added that hasn't been said in the past decade about this book. Alls I know is despite its slow pace, the book did have my heart palpitating with curiosity of what would come next. So much happened in this story that I cannot imagine just how all the lose ends will come together in the third. I will now patiently wait alongside everyone else for whenever the final book is released.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, and Murder
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Review of my reread
Coming back to this story was refreshing. After six years there were parts I completely forgotten and parts I remembered clear as day (what are the seven words you can say to have someone fall in love with you?). My mind is a bit of mush right now to really reflect on how wonderful the story is, but I'm glad I can finally continue it now into book two.
There is so much world to this book worth exploring and characters worth diving deeper into. This is a great work of fantasy, though I'm not too sure it's perfect for those just getting into the genre as it is a very denseboi. But for avid fantasy fans, I can't see a reason not to add this to your TBR pile (other than the lack of a third book).
Coming back to this story was refreshing. After six years there were parts I completely forgotten and parts I remembered clear as day (what are the seven words you can say to have someone fall in love with you?). My mind is a bit of mush right now to really reflect on how wonderful the story is, but I'm glad I can finally continue it now into book two.
There is so much world to this book worth exploring and characters worth diving deeper into. This is a great work of fantasy, though I'm not too sure it's perfect for those just getting into the genre as it is a very denseboi. But for avid fantasy fans, I can't see a reason not to add this to your TBR pile (other than the lack of a third book).
Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams by Philip K. Dick
challenging
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Like all PKD books, I enjoyed what I read but failed to grasp the deep meanings behind the stories. There were some that seemed more obvious than others, especially with the help of reading the forward to each story after finishing it, but still the message was out of my grasp.
I've never really read short story collections before so I'm not sure if the super fast pace was on par for how they usually go or if that was just PKD's style. Either way I wasn't too crazy with how fast things seemed to happen, and I usually like fast paced stories. It just felt so different from his longer works where you have time to see how things slowly unravel; but I guess that's the point of a short story.
Overall I did enjoy it and I will still read his stuff. Like all of the books by him I have read so far I feel like I definitely need to revisit them (probably many times) to catch what I missed and piece together what he was trying to say.
I've never really read short story collections before so I'm not sure if the super fast pace was on par for how they usually go or if that was just PKD's style. Either way I wasn't too crazy with how fast things seemed to happen, and I usually like fast paced stories. It just felt so different from his longer works where you have time to see how things slowly unravel; but I guess that's the point of a short story.
Overall I did enjoy it and I will still read his stuff. Like all of the books by him I have read so far I feel like I definitely need to revisit them (probably many times) to catch what I missed and piece together what he was trying to say.
We Are All Completely Fine by Daryl Gregory
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This wasn't the worst book I read, but it wasn't the best either. I was curious enough to finish it, but I didn't enjoy the ride. I'm glad it was a novella, because I don't think I would have pushed through if it was a full length book, but at the same time I wish that many part of it were better explained.
One main gripe was that the story is told to the readers with a spoken "We" about the characters over and over but I never felt like the group was close enough to share a like minded omniscience to them to narrate the story. Also I felt the characters were pretty one dimensional despite the fact that all being trauma victims they could have had way more depth to them. I never felt any care or concern for any of them. The characters also knew more than the readers during most of the book, which could be interesting if the reveals were done better.
I did like how, in hindsight, the author did have some decent foreshadowing; but at other points the clues he was leaving were just horribly obvious.
All in all, not the worst book to read through in a day but I can't see myself recommending it to anyone.
One main gripe was that the story is told to the readers with a spoken "We" about the characters over and over but I never felt like the group was close enough to share a like minded omniscience to them to narrate the story. Also I felt the characters were pretty one dimensional despite the fact that all being trauma victims they could have had way more depth to them. I never felt any care or concern for any of them. The characters also knew more than the readers during most of the book, which could be interesting if the reveals were done better.
I did like how, in hindsight, the author did have some decent foreshadowing; but at other points the clues he was leaving were just horribly obvious.
All in all, not the worst book to read through in a day but I can't see myself recommending it to anyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A solid conclusion to the trilogy. Honestly thought this was the best book out of the three. It's totally believable how the events that happened on Earth after the second book went down, humans across the world would have no idea how to react to millions of people dying accidentally at the hands of aliens. I also enjoyed how it flashed back and forth between the current and the past with life on Esat Ekt, I'm always a sucker for flashbacks.
The format though no longer felt like it had a purpose with our nameless friend gone. I get it for continuity and I like that the story was mainly dialogue without annoying flashy descriptions (I liked that of all three books), but it just felt unnecessary for this book.
The format though no longer felt like it had a purpose with our nameless friend gone. I get it for continuity and I like that the story was mainly dialogue without annoying flashy descriptions (I liked that of all three books), but it just felt unnecessary for this book.
Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Definitely a step up from the previous book. I'm glad the love triangle is done with. It was interesting seeing how these characters grew in the time between both stories, though I feel like Kara lost some of her badassness from it. I like that we got more into the scifi side of things with this book, though maybe I read too fast or something but some of the reasoning behind the aliens actions didn't make sense to me. There is one character, who will not be named cause spoilers ;), that I will miss from the third book though; they added so much flair to the story.